Systematic Reviews: Methodology

Many systematic reviews follow the PRISMA (Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses) guidelines. The PRISMA site includes the following documents:

• PRISMA 2020 Checklist
• PRISMA 2020 flow diagram
• PRISMA 2020 Statement
• PRISMA 2020 Explanation and Elaboration

There is a useful introductory article (from 2009) on the PRISMA guidelines here: https://doi.org/10.1136/bmj.b2535 (Moher, D., Liberati, A., Tetzlaff, J.,  & Altman, D. G. (2009). Preferred reporting items for systematic reviews and meta-analyses: the PRISMA statement. BMJ-British Medical Journal, 339, Article b2535.)

Other systematic review guidelines

• ROSES - Reporting standards for Systematic Evidence Syntheses in environmental research
• Guidelines and Standards for Evidence Synthesis in Environmental Management - Collaboration for Environmental Science

Choose the right methodology for the type of review you're doing.  Below are some of the main ones, which cover each step in the process:

See below for the EQUATOR Network Introduction to Reporting Guidelines.

There are guidelines on how to report your research methods and findings.